93: Chapter 93 Thick-skinned enough.

They were all masked, wearing dusty, grey short-sleeved outfits, and holding weapons.

The leader was a short man with a hoarse voice, carrying a hint of mockery: "Government runners? We're specifically here to kill government runners. Chen Mo, someone paid for your life; when you reach the King of Hell, don't blame the wrong person."

"Body Tempering Realm."

Chen Mo swept his gaze over them.

These people had long, steady breaths, firm footsteps, and calluses on the webs between their thumbs and fingers—they were all martial artists. Furthermore, judging by their stance and coordinated movements, they were clearly not ordinary thugs, but professional assassins.

"Attack!"

The short man waved his hand.

They did not rush forward all at once.

"Whoosh!"

The men on both sides raised their hands, and several bags of white powder were flung directly at his face.

Quicklime!

Immediately following that were a few cold glints—throwing daggers.

These were low-down tactics, but in a life-or-death struggle, they were lethal moves.

Chen Mo cursed under his breath.

Instead of retreating, he advanced, ripping off his wide official robe and swirling it violently.

"Whoosh!"

The robe acted like a shield, sweeping away most of the lime and daggers. However, quite a bit of lime powder still filled the air, stinging his eyes painfully.

"Kill!"

Taking advantage of his obstructed vision, the assassins charged.

Flashes of blades, shadows of swords.

Killing Intent was coming from all directions.

Chen Mo closed his eyes.

Since he could not see clearly, there was no need to look.

He would listen to the wind to identify their positions.

On the left, the wind was sharp—that was a blade. On the right, the wind was light—that was a thrust.

Chen Mo ducked, dodging the blade on the left, and swung his own long saber to the right in one fluid motion.

"Ah!"

With a scream, the wrist of the person on the right was severed at the root.

But just then, he felt a chill on his back.

A dagger was thrust fiercely into his back.

The person who launched the sneak attack flashed a look of joy; the strike had landed solidly—even if it did not kill him, he would be crippled.

However.

"Clang!"

A crisp sound rang out.

It did not sound like it had pierced into flesh, but rather like it had struck wood covered in cowhide.

The assassin was stunned.

The feel was wrong!

The tip of the blade had pierced the clothes and the skin, but then it was blocked by an incredibly tough layer, unable to advance even an inch further.

Chen Mo gave a sinister grin and struck back with his elbow.

"Bang!"

The assassin's chest collapsed instantly, and his entire body flew out like a broken sack, hitting the wall and sliding down, motionless.

"How is this possible?!" the short leader exclaimed. "This kid practices a hard skill?!"

Chen Mo did not give him time to be surprised.

He threw off his official robe, revealing a body of lean, muscular flesh.

At this moment, he was like a Vicious Beast draped in human skin.

Although the Hunyuan Iron Cloth Skill had not yet reached Minor Achievement, combined with his ridiculously high potential points and the foundation laid by the previous Marrow Cleansing Incantation, the toughness of his skin and membranes far exceeded what ordinary people could imagine.

Ordinary blades, unless imbued with internal strength, could not break his defense at all.

"Come on!"

Chen Mo roared and charged into the crowd.

It was like a tiger entering a flock of sheep.

He stopped dodging.

As long as the attacks were not aimed at vital points like his eyes or groin, he took them all head-on.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

A series of sounds like metal being forged rang out in the alley.

A steel saber slashed onto Chen Mo's shoulder; his clothes tore, leaving a white mark, not even drawing blood.

Chen Mo backhanded his blade, slicing off half of that man's head.

Another iron rod smashed into his back; Chen Mo swayed slightly, turned around, and kicked, shattering the man's knee.

This was a crushing defeat.

It was not a crushing defeat in technique, but a crushing defeat in stats.

I will just stand here and let you hit me, but you cannot hurt me. If I hit you once, you die.

In just a few breaths, three more lay on the ground.

The remaining three assassins were terrified.

Is this even human?

This is simply a human-shaped lump of iron!

"The target is tough! Use the ultimate move!"

Seeing his men suffering heavy casualties, the short leader's eyes turned red.

The remaining two gritted their teeth and pulled out several black spheres from their robes, smashing them on the ground.

"Bang! Bang!"

Black smoke exploded.

It was not poisonous smoke, but lime again, only this time it was mixed with chili powder and caltrops.

Furthermore, they did not care about their companions still fighting Chen Mo, bombing their own people as well.

The assassin with the broken leg, who was still crawling on the ground, was instantly blinded by the lime, screaming and rolling on the ground while covering his face.

"Lunatics."

Chen Mo held his breath and stepped back two paces.

The alley was too narrow, and the smoke and dust could not disperse, leaving everything in a white haze.

He could not open his eyes, and every breath was filled with a spicy sting.

"Cough, cough..."

Chen Mo felt as if his throat was on fire.

Just then, in the smoke ahead, several sounds of things piercing the air came again.

This time, it was crossbow bolts!

Chen Mo's heart tightened.

No matter how strong his hard skill was, it could not withstand a powerful crossbow at close range.

Just as he was preparing to force his way out, a thunderous shout came from the entrance of the alley.

"Which bastard dares to touch my people?!"

This roar was like a thunderclap on flat ground.

It shook the walls on both sides of the alley, causing dust to rain down.

Immediately following that, a figure as burly as a black bear charged in.

Tiger Li.

He held a thick-backed mountain-cleaving saber in his hand, not caring about the lime at all, and crashed directly into the smoke.

"Die!"

The blade light was like a waterfall.

Tiger Li's saber technique had no frills; it was simply heavy and powerful.

With one slash, he cleaved both the person and their weapon in two.

"It's Tiger Li! Run!"

The short leader was scared to the point of Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.

Tiger Li's reputation in the Outer City was enough to stop children from crying at night.

A master of the Meridian Unblocking Realm, a Devil Head who killed without blinking.

The remaining two assassins turned and ran, wishing their parents had given them a few extra legs.

"Running?"

Tiger Li sneered, picked up a steel saber dropped by an assassin from the ground, and threw it with a flick of his hand.

"Pfft!"

The steel saber pierced the short man's back, pinning him to the ground.

The other assassin had just climbed onto the wall when Tiger Li caught up in a few strides, grabbed his ankle, and slammed him against the ground like a sack of grain.

"Splat."

The world was quiet again.

The smoke and dust slowly dissipated.

The alley was filled with corpses; the smell of blood mixed with the smell of lime was extremely pungent.

Tiger Li shouldered his saber and strode up to Chen Mo.

"Are you alright?"

He looked Chen Mo up and down.

Chen Mo certainly looked a bit disheveled now.

His clothes were tattered and full of holes, his body was covered in white and red patches, and his hair was full of lime, like a ghost that had just crawled out of a flour vat.

"I'm fine."

Chen Mo patted the dust off his body, "It's just hard on my clothes."

Tiger Li frowned and reached out to touch the tear on Chen Mo's shoulder.

There should have been a deep saber wound visible to the bone there.

But now, there was only a red mark, and the skin had not even broken.

Tiger Li's pupils constricted sharply.

He looked at the blunted weapons on the ground again, then at Chen Mo's unharmed body.

"You kid..."

Tiger Li took a deep breath, his eyes becoming strange, "This skin of yours... it's tough enough."

He was an expert.

He could tell at a glance that this was definitely not an ordinary hard Qi skill.

An ordinary Iron Cloth Shirt would only achieve this effect after reaching Major Achievement.

But how many days had this kid been practicing?

Moreover, those assassins earlier were all skilled experts in the Body Tempering Realm, and the weapons in their hands were all sharpened.

To be able to withstand such an attack without injury, how hard must his bones be? How tough must his skin and membranes be?

"Just lucky."

Chen Mo grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, "I get beaten up a lot, so my skin is tough."